Transcendental Ontology (book review) Markus Gabriel

Essays in German Idealism

040816: q: why did i buy this? a: well, um, i liked the promise of the title? transcendental, that's kant. ontology, that's hegel. but after the title this book asks for a lot of reading i have not done, to argue around, define, propose, original german idealism. which is yes kant but also hegel and also schelling. long chapter 1 on 'ontology of knowledge' was fun, particularly the 'metaphysical truth of skepticism' which inspires philosophy to begin with. in chapter 2 something called the 'unprethinkable' being and event, has a major role and this includes late heidegger after late schelling and certainly suggests development of existentialism, though does not much involve nietzsche... chapter 3 is schelling versus hegel and the need for contingency and the absolute... entire book focuses on continental tradition so after early dismissal of analytic conceptions only wittgenstein gets a look... but the thing is, despite feeling unread, despite ignorance, despite confusion... i did quite truly enjoy this book. might read some schelling now...